Is being an ideologue necessarily a bad thing?

I hear many people using the term "ideologue" in a totally negative connotation regarding Mitt Romney's VP choice Paul Ryan.

The term does seem to be seen in a negative light, consider some of the definitions found on the Internet for an "ideologue"

 A person with a certain grand design or philosophical mindset of how the world should be. www.politi-geek.com/news-sources/

1. An impractical idealist: theorist. 2. An often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of particular ideology. [Merriam-Webster]

Individual with strong philosophical or ideological leanings. Generally unwilling to budge to compromise or work with others with differing views.

www.thisnation.com/glossary.html

Google even added a very negative example to their definition -

i·de·o·logueAn adherent of an ideology, esp. one who is uncompromising and dogmatic: "a Nazi ideologue".

I find it quite ironic that anyone would say it is bad to have strong convictions and to make decisions based on them. Surely all have beliefs that they feel can't be compromised!

If you believe it is wrong to work all week and have your boss decide not to pay you, are you being an ideologue if you cry foul? Why not set aside your dogmatic view that you should be paid for all your work and compromise, maybe he will give you half of what your owed. The main thing is that you will not have been an ideologue, you will have shown that you are willing to set aside your rigid view of fairness for the sake of compromise.

Are compromisers what we all want in leadership? Do we want people who's only basis for making decisions is what they think might work, with no notion of right or wrong in any absolute sense?

Hitler may well have been an ideologue and his twisted notions of right and wrong led to many atrocities. However, the framers of our Constitution, those who have fought for our freedom and those who brought us through the most difficult times in our nations history, did so because they thought certain things were worth fighting for. Yes, they were "ideologues", so uncompromising in their stance on freedom, that they would risk even their lives for it.

It is not ideology or ideologues that are bad, even those who say they are against all ideologues, are being ideologues in reference to other ideologues.

Jesus seems to have intended that we act as ideologues as we do His will according to His word, without compromise!

Matt. 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (NKJV)

The issue is not will we be ideologues, we all will, especially when our rights or lives hang in the balance. The question is where do we get the truths that should not be compromised? When it comes to politics or anything else - the closer to the Bible's teaching someones beliefs are, the more I hope they will be elected and yes be ideologues!


"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

The Tragedy of Parental Hypocrisy!

Why do parents bring their children or youth to church? Ideally, it would be because they want them to come to know, love and follow Jesus according to His word!

Look at what Jesus said -

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

We sure better want young people listening to God's word and following it, as Jesus says, their eternal destiny hangs in the balance. A faith that does not listen to His word and follow Him, is not a saving faith! Wow, that would make being at church, under sound teaching, a very high priority indeed - a good reason to bring your young people to church.

Also, Jesus said -

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

If our young people don't abide in Him, they will accomplish nothing! No matter how much education they get, how talented they are or how outwardly moral our children/youth are, their lives will have been 100% wasted if they don't abide in Him! 

How do they do that?

Jesus says it requires His word abiding in us/them and that is what gives us knowledge of what to want/ask for, His will not ours, so we can "bear much fruit". Basically, us abiding in Him, His word abiding in us and the fruit which results, is the disciple life, and any other life comes to naught in the end.

As a disciple is a student or pupil, it makes so much sense that parents would bring their children and youth to church, as that is a primary place (home is also) where God has called us to disciple those who believe, including our young people.

Hypocrisy check -

What if when they look at your life, it doesn't look like the life of someone who is first and foremost a disciple/student of the word?

What if you regularly drop them off at Church for some teaching/program, while you go do something else?

What if you don't spend time in God's word yourself at home?

What if you don't talk to them throughout the week about how God's word relates to things they are facing?

What if your life, if you say you are a Christian, is actually lived very contrary to how the Bible describes a disciple of Jesus Christ?

What will be the fruit of that hypocrisy be?

Will they be lost?

Will they come to believe, but be forever weak in knowledge and fruit, because we modeled a faith which placed little value on learning the word?

Will they be anxious to grow up, so they can skip church like you do?

We can take them to church to be taught some stuff, but we can't expect our own witness, day after day and year after year, to have no affect on their thinking about God's word and His church.

I am not suggesting that we should never miss a church teaching time, that we must have a certain amount of personal bible study or a required amount of family devotions and prayer with our young people.

What I am saying is that our commitment to Gods word and His church is the strongest witness our young people have.

Either we are striving to set an example as disciples for our young people to emulate, or we are hypocrites who will need to give an account for our apathy toward God, His word and His church and yes, our apathy toward our children and youth who where told by us that God's word and His church were important, yet they saw us live like they were quite optional!

It is not too late to start! 

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

A short video on persecution from Paul Washer!

2 minute video with a great message!

I saw this video posted on Truth Matters - it makes a very good point!

Consider this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship 

A quote from a man who took the word of Christ and the call of Christ serious and died a victorious martyrs death!

 

Mark 8:35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. (NKJV)

 

Is this extremism or is this the call to all who will follow Christ? 

 

God grant me the willingness and strength to follow - to Christ be all glory! 

 

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

A little humor is good for the soul - I think?